Archaeology and Colonial Power - The British Mandate and the Palestine Archaeological

The Palestine Archaeological Museum (PAM) formed a key part of the British Mandate Government’s policy on antiquities. Despite inheriting many of its collections, and attitudes, from the previous Imperial Museum of the Ottoman government, The British Mandate museum was an element of narrative in which Britain ‘rescues’ Palestinian antiquities from the negligent Turks. I explore how the museum functioned as part of the fabric of colonial power - over both the intellectual and physical spheres – namely the production of knowledge and the material relics of the past. This cemented Britain’s claim over both the physical territory of Palestine, which as ‘The Holy Land’, held a prominent place within British culture. Using archival research, I present the museum as a case study in how heritage and cultural resource management acted as part of the imperial ambitions of empires. I examine the museum and wider antiquities law were expressed as a political response to the previous Ottoman government’s management; this is important as Ottoman antiquities law can be seen as a direct response to western exploitation of archaeological resources across Ottoman territory during the 19th century. My research illustrates how, throughout the history of the PAM, the Palestinians have been relegated to background actors in the management and construction of knowledge over their own history. I suggest that the PAM in both its Ottoman and Mandate incarnations, acted as part of a long tradition of using heritage to show the dominance of conquering powers in Jerusalem (St Laurent et al. 2013).

CHLOE EMMOTT, PHD CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH